U.S. patent number 5,153,623 [Application Number 07/728,092] was granted by the patent office on 1992-10-06 for surveillance camera with integrated support.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Thomson Surveillance Video. Invention is credited to Bernard Bouvier.
United States Patent |
5,153,623 |
Bouvier |
October 6, 1992 |
Surveillance camera with integrated support
Abstract
The surveillance camera has a filming device placed in a package
with a hollow support frame constituted by a back and at least one
cardan fork arm on which there rests a hollow, preferably
spherical, shell. The filming device is placed in the shell, the
connection wires passing from the shell into the support frame
through at least one hinging means providing for the mobility of
the shell about an axis U that passes through its center and is
perpendicular to the cardan fork arm and the support frame being
itself movable about an axis V perpendicular to the cardan fork
arm. Application to the surveillance of private or public
premises.
Inventors: |
Bouvier; Bernard (Eragny/Oise,
FR) |
Assignee: |
Thomson Surveillance Video
(Cergy Saint Christophe, FR)
|
Family
ID: |
9399168 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/728,092 |
Filed: |
July 10, 1991 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 27, 1990 [FR] |
|
|
90 09615 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
396/427;
348/151 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08B
13/1963 (20130101); G08B 13/19632 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G08B
15/00 (20060101); G03B 029/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;354/81
;358/108,109,229 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hix; L. T.
Assistant Examiner: Gray; David M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Marmorek, Guttman &
Rubenstein
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A surveillance camera with integrated support, comprising a
filming device located in a casing and connection wires, wherein
the casing has a hollow shell enclosing the filming device, a
hollow part for the support of this shell, said hollow part
comprising a support frame constituted by a back and two parallel
cardan fork arms between which the shell is housed, hinging means
between the cardan fork arms and the shell, the back of the support
frame being pre-stressed to provide friction between two cardan
fork arms and the shell, and the connection wires passing from the
interior of the shell to the interior of the hollow part through
the hinging means.
2. A surveillance camera according to claim 1, wherein the casing
further comprises a ring fastener supporting the hollow part and
designed to be fixed to a surface of a room to be put under
surveillance.
3. A surveillance camera according to claim 2, wherein the shell is
movable about a first axis of rotation passing through the center
of the shell and perpendicular to the cardan fork arms, and the
hollow part is movable about a second axis of rotation
perpendicular to the first axis and parallel to the cardan fork
arms.
4. A surveillance camera according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the
shell is constituted by two hollow half-shells, one of which has a
hole with a matching diameter to house an objective of the filming
device.
5. A surveillance camera according to claim 4 wherein the shell has
two diametrically opposite recesses to enable the hinging of the
shell on the cardan fork arms, each recess being provided with a
shoulder designed to come to rest on two respective holes
positioned on an internal face of each cardan fork arm.
6. A surveillance camera according to claim 5, wherein the shell is
cylindrical.
7. A surveillance camera according to claim 5, wherein the shell is
parallelepiped-shaped.
8. A surveillance camera according to claim 3 further comprising
two motors, designed respectively to make the support frame and the
shell rotate about the first axis and the second axis respectively.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a surveillance camera with integrated
support for the surveillance of public or private premises.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known surveillance camera, comprising a filming device enclosed
in a casing, is generally installed in a support independent of the
package and has visible input/output connection wires, thus making
the camera vulnerable and subject to acts of vandalism. Besides,
such a camera is generally not discreet and is therefore easy to
locate. It is difficult, even impossible, to swivel such a camera,
and this means that it cannot be installed just anywhere. It cannot
be installed immediately, and requires adequate tools.
There also exist cameras that can be flush-mounted and are
therefore discreet and more resistant to acts of vandalism, but
they are difficult to install, cannot been swivelled and cannot be
used for surveillance in all directions of space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to make a discreet, vandal-proof
camera that is easy to install without any particular tools, can be
easily pointed in all directions of space and can be adapted to a
positioning on a wall or on a ceiling.
According to the invention, there is proposed a camera with
integrated support, comprising a filming device placed in a casing
and connection wires, wherein the casing has a hollow shell
enclosing the filming device, a hollow part comprising at least one
cardan fork arm for the support of this shell, a ring fastener
supporting the hollow part and designed to be fixed to a surface of
a room to be put under surveillance, hinging means between the
cardan fork arm and the shell enabling the rotation of the shell
about a first axis U passing through the center of the shell and
perpendicular to the cardan fork arm, the hollow part being movable
about a second axis V of rotation perpendicular to the first axis U
and parallel to the cardan fork arm, and wherein the connection
wires pass from the interior of the shell to the interior of the
hollow part through the hinging means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the invention shall appear clearly
from the following description, given as a non-restrictive example
and made with reference to the appended drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of the
camera according to the invention;
FIG. 2 shows a view of the casing of the camera showing its three
axes of orientation according to the invention;
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the camera showing an example of
the motor-driven operation of the camera according to the
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of the
camera according to the invention. The camera has a filming device
10 and a casing formed by an envelope part 40, called a shell, a
part 30 for the support of the shell called a support frame and a
ring fastener 51 supporting the support frame. The filming device
10 is essentially formed by an electronic circuit associated with
an integrated optical system 11, an objective 12, wires 13, 14 for
the connection of the electrical supply and of the video signal.
The support-forming frame 30 has a back 31 and two parallel cardan
fork arms 32, 33. The shell 40 preferably has a spherical shape but
it may also have a cylindrical, parallelepiped or other shape, and
is designed to receive the filming device 10. It is constituted by
two hollow half-shells 41, 42, one of which has a hole at its top
A. This hole has, for example, the shape of a truncated cone with a
matching diameter that enables it to house the objective 12 of the
shooting device 10 and enables the focusing of the image to be
adjusted. Each half-shell 41, 42 has two recesses 43 and 44 on its
periphery. These recesses 43 and 44 enable the passage of the wires
13, 14 and the separation of the electrical supply wires of the
video signal transmission wires. Preferably, these two recesses are
diametrically opposite to each other. When the filming device 10 is
placed in the shell 40, the two half-shells are closed by a closing
system, for example with clips or screws, or they are clamped by
means of the holes 34 and 35 of the support frame 30.
The support frame 30 is designed to receive the shell 40 between
its two cardan fork arms 32, 33. It is hollow and has a hole 34, 35
on its internal face, at the ends of the two cardan fork arms.
These holes 34, 35 are positioned so as to face the two recesses
43, 44 of the shell 40 and enable the introduction, into the
support frame 30, of the camera connection wires 13, 14. In this
way, the wires are shielded and cannot be seen, and it is difficult
for ill-intentioned persons to reach them. To provide for the
locking of the shell 40 in the support frame 30, the back of the
support frame is pre-stressed so that the two cardan fork arms 32,
33 tend to tighten and so that friction is set up between the two
cardan fork arms and the shell 40. Holes are made in the external
surface of the back 31 of the support frame 30, enabling the
connection wires 13, 14 to come out so that they can be connected
by means of a connection strip 50. The support frame may then be
fixed, for example by a device with clips, to a ring fastener 51
screwed by means of two screws 60 into the wall or into the
ceiling.
When the camera is mounted and fixed to a wall or to the ceiling of
a room, the connection wires are not visible and the camera has the
advantage of having the external appearance of a light spot. It is
therefore difficult to locate, and less likely to undergo acts of
vandalism.
FIG. 2 shows a view of the casing of the camera, showing its three
axes of orientation. The structure of the casing enables easy
orientation of the camera in every direction of space. The two
recesses 43, 44 of the shell 40 are provided, on their rim, with a
projecting shoulder 45, 46. When the shell 40 is housed between the
two cardan fork arms 32, 33, the shoulders 45, 46 rest on the holes
34, 35 which thus constitute a hinge by means of which the shell
can rotate. The shell 40 can therefore rotate about an axis U that
passes through its center and is perpendicular to the two cardan
fork arms 32, 33. The support frame can rotate about an axis V
perpendicular to the axis U and parallel to the two cardan fork
arms 32, 33. Finally, the camera may be shifted along an axis W,
parallel to the surface to which it is fixed.
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the casing showing an example of
motor-driven operation of the camera, according to the invention.
Since the camera can be oriented along three axes, U, V, W, it can
be motor-driven by means of two motors M1, M2, the motor M1 making
the support frame 30 rotate and the motor M2 making the shell 40
rotate. The motor M1 is, for example, fastened to a part that is
fixedly joined to the ring fastener 51 and drives the support frame
30, for example, by means of a toothed wheel 52 molded in the
support frame 30. The motor M2 is, for example, fixed to the
support frame 30 and drives the shell 40 by a mechanism comprising
a toothed belt 53 and a gear system 54. The camera may then be
remote controlled.
The invention is not limited to the example specifically described
herein. In particular, it is not indispensable for the support
frame to have two cardan fork arms. Just one cardan fork arm would
suffice. However, the two cardan fork arms ensure the friction of
the shell and enable it to be locked whereas, with only one cardan
fork arm, it would be necessary to provide for a system to lock the
camera.
In the same way, the camera described has two recesses 43, 44 on
each half-shell 41, 42. This enables the supply wires to be
separated from the video signal transmission wires, but only one
recess is sufficient, the essential feature being the integration
of the wires within the support frame 30 to strengthen the
resistance of the camera against acts of vandalism.
* * * * *